Australian Shiraz
&
Chilian Reds

Over the last twelve months,
Wine & Spirits tasted 115 Australian Shiraz and 109 Chilian Reds. The following wines received the strongest praise from our critics. A list of all Australian shiraz and Chilian reds tasted, with the recommended wines highlighted, is included with subscription copies.

1997 Georgia's Paddock Heathcote Shiraz

Made from a 12-hectare non-irrigated vineyard in the hills of Victoria, Georgia's Paddock is a glorious shiraz in '97. The fruit character built slowly to a mature ripeness, the grape skin tannins so soft that the wine seems to melt when it hits your mouth, the flavor so seductive it's best to drink this sitting down in the presence of intimate friends with whom you can swoon and riff openly. Let the pitch blackness of the wine wash over you, a wave of black raspberry, black licorice, black roses, black tar. The flavors fit in a meal somewhere between a blackened steak and a chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Savor it on a special occasion, now or ten years from now. (W&S October '99) Old Bridge Cellars, San Francisco, CA

1996 Barossa Valley E & E Black Pepper Shiraz

A Barossa love-fest, this wine is completely over the top in its heady concentration and floral aromatics. There's the ripe black fruit of shiraz, rich as plum pudding, layered with the earthy scents of barnyard and an unusual florality. There's the compacted fruit power, holding up detail and finesse from what might otherwise be a soup of berries. The wine has natural grace, syrah sings a Barossa song. It's made by the Barossa Valley Growers' Cooperative. (4,000 cases) (W&S February '00) BRL Hardy USA, Chantilly, VA

The three Clarendon Hills shiraz we tasted each provided a different expression of the grape. Among these young wines, the Piggott Range struck me as the most exquisitely balanced, harmonizing its concentration of fruit with a tight, mineral structure. The fine plum and gum tree bark aromas last and build detail into the end. The fruit flavors flow all the way through, the tannins bristling with iron-hard edges of youth. A long-term ager. (W&S February '00) USA Wine West, San Rafael, CA

Extraordinary density carries through from the color to the flavors of this wine. It's monumental, with the weight of a vintage Port and the freshness of a perfectly balanced table wine. Though completely dry, the scents and flavors bring to mind extravagant desserts-plum pudding, dates, figs, cranberry and a bath of melted chocolate. Dead Arm is winemaker Chester Osborn's most concentrated and powerful red, made from the small concentrated grapes of ancient shiraz vines. The tension of the wine's structure and the freshness of the black fruit make it a shiraz for long cellaring. (W&S February '00) Old Bridge Cellars, San Francisco, CA

1994 Barossa Stonewell Shiraz

Stonewell is Lehmann's top-flight selection of old-vine Barossa vineyards, a triumvirate of fruit, earth and oak. This is a wild and massive wine, buzzing with plum and cherry flesh, with foresty scents and flashy oak. But rather than a layer above, the oak seems to buoy the fruit and earth characters from below. It's all in perfect balance, a succulent, dramatic South Australia shiraz. The impression it makes on the palate lasts for minutes; the wine will last for years as it evolves in the cellar, if you can find any. (100 cases) (W&S February '00) Appellation Imports, Annapolis Junction, MD

1997 Victoria Langi Shiraz

Trevor Mast has refined a concentrated, cool-climate, age-worthy style at Mount Langi, and his wine strikes a perfect balance in '97. The black and blue color shows how extracted and powerful it is, yet there's nothing sweet or hyper-ripe about it. The scent is deep, cool black plum and herbal gum tree bark, building in the glass. The flavors and textures up the ante; here the ripeness shows in succulent dark fruits and a soothing feel, the tannins strong but supple as a brush against velvet. This should evolve for a decade or more. (W&S February '00) Epic Wines, Santa Cruz, CA

1996 McLaren Vale Balmoral Syrah

Philip Shaw is one of Australia's most talented winemakers, and Balmoral is his virtuosic performance. Shaw's "syrah" style is unencumbered by Australian winemaking traditions, tied only to the talents and potentialities of old-vine McLaren Vale fruit. It's modernist: the spicy flavor and tense structure of a great northern Rhône set with the sweetness, concentration and earthy grip of McLaren Vale. The following exclamatories appear in my notes from the blind tasting: gorgeous (2x, for color and aroma), beautiful, luscious, pure, elegant, harmonious, perfect. (W&S October '99) Rosemount Estates, Sonoma, CA

Shapely, bold and beautiful, this wine has been blended and tailored, "styled" in the best tradition of South Australian winemaking culture. It doesn't taste earthy or distinctly from one region or vineyard; instead, it emphasizes balance, pure fruit flavors, the complex essence of the shiraz grape. It's concentrated to a succulence that can be best appreciated with grilled rack of baby lamb. (W&S October '99) Old Bridge Cellars, San Francisco, CA

Imagine an Aussie forest, the ground covered in shards of gum tree bark and flowering herbs, an exotic and wild place where kookaburras screech and eucalyp leaves rattle in the breeze. This wine will take you there, with a transportational scent that shimmers and shakes and leaves you branded with a powerful flavor. Serve it with lamb chops rubbed in dark spices‹cardamom or cumin‹then grilled rare. (3,600 cases) (W&S February '00) Parliament Import Co., Atlantic City, NJ

1996 Colchagua Le Dix de Los Vascos Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite)

At their best, the older vines at Los Vascos produce a cabernet with fresh red currant and violet scents, and the selection for the '96 Le Dix emphasizes that character along with the savor of earthy tannin. The wine has an Old World austerity and discretion, a focus on terroir rather than fruitiness. A true, hard cabernet with a glorious finish, this is a Chilean red to test in the cellar. The '97 vintage of this wine, which received a 90-point score, is more sweetly ripe and international in style than the '96, following the vintage character. (W&S February '00) Pasternak Wine Imports, Greenwich, CT

1996 Maipo Don Melchor Private Reserve Puente Alto Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Knowledgeable tasters have described Don Melchor's terroir expression by the scent of eucalyptus that marks the wine strongly at different moments in its evolution. I wonder, however, if that's merely a sign of vigor rather than a vineyard expression. What marks Don Melchor for me is its generosity, the fatness of texture; it parallels a big, fleshy St-Julien like Gruaud Larose in that fatness upheld by a firmly embedded structure. Strip away the eucalyptus and you get to a bosky fruit, chewy, dense, uplifted. A classic Chilean. (W&S February '00) Banfi Vintners, Old Brookville, NY

The latest vintage of Don Maximiano is an elegant cabernet with more freshness and clean fruit than this wine has had in the past. There's still a distinctive earthiness in the tannin, balanced by woodsy, dark berry flavors providing depth at the front of the wine. Cellar this for a year or two to ameliorate some of the tannin and the fruit may lengthen. (W&S February '00) Robert Mondavi Imports, Napa, CA

1997 Chile Selección de las Lomas Merlot

An international style with attractions that cannot be denied, this is a simple, plum-and-cherry merlot with fine oak influence. It may not be typical of anywhere, but it's a wine that most anyone will love to drink. (1,441 cases) (W&S February '00) Artisans & Estates, Santa Rosa, CA

1997 Maipo Reserve Grand Vidure-Cabernet Sauvignon

If you love the soft, plush textures of merlot and the flavors of crushed fresh berries that luscious red can offer, you owe it to yourself to try this blend of carmenčre and cabernet. It's supple and soothing, robed in delicious dark fruit flavor. Balanced, voluptuous, and ready to drink. (W&S February '00) W.J. Deutsch & Sons, White Plains, NY

1996 Maipo Estate Reserve Merlot

The fruitiness of dark chocolate, the enveloping texture of hot cocoa, the cool earth and mineral flavor all combine to make this a distinctively Chilean merlot. Luscious to drink right now, enjoy it with ropa vieja or duck quesadillas. (W&S February '00) Cabernet Corporation, Novato, CA

1997 Maipo Medalla Real Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Cecilia Torres played this vintage just right, achieving super density and power in this cabernet without the weight and thickness of over-ripeness. The flavors stay uplifted, with the fresh red cherry and woodsy raspberry tones that make Maipo cabernet so distinctive. Supple and honest, a wine with a Chilean heart. Ready to enjoy over the next year or two with prime rib or lamb. (W&S February '00) Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL

A mellow vintage of Casa Real, Santa Rita's top cabernet, this '96 is richly woven with black plum, baked cherry and chocolate flavors. The new oak comes across in a Bordeaux-like aroma of caramelized onions, blending with earthy tones and deep, foresty fruit. It's gentle and suave, the tight structure barely perceptible, a wine to age for a few years or to savor now with filet mignon. (W&S February '00) Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL

The deep color shows off the concentrated fullness of this wine. The fruit from '97 is riper than prior vintages of Cuvée Alexandres, this harvest yielding a dark, brooding character, rich as molasses and cherry syrup. Tarry tannins last in the finish. (W&S December '99) Schieffelin & Somerset, NY

Aurelio Montes crafts this wine from a hillside vineyard planted in 1991. The hot and dry '97 vintage brought the grapes to a plush super-ripeness, the wine both fat textured and dry. It's modern and flashy with oak, the aroma filled with mint, the wine overall quite heady and rich. (W&S December '99) T.G.I.C. Importers, Encino, CA